Report: Unemployment rate at least four times higher for workers without high school diploma

LANSING -- Michigan workers without a high school diploma have an unemployment rate at least four times higher than workers with a college degree, according to a report released today.

The state's jobless rate in July was 8.5 percent, the highest since late 1992. Michigan has had the nation's highest average annual unemployment rate since 2006.

The unemployment rate for residents without high school diplomas hit 20 percent in 2007, according to the Michigan League for Human Services report. The jobless rate for those with a bachelor's degree or higher was less than 5 percent.

The Michigan League for Human Services compiled the report with data from the Economic Policy Institute and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report shows the unemployment rate soars among those without a high school degree when the economy suffers a downturn. Jobless rates remain far more stable for workers who have attended college. Income levels are much higher for workers with college degrees.

Michigan officials are taking steps to try and increase the number of high school and college graduates.

The state has started phasing in tougher high school graduation standards in the hopes that more students will become better prepared and willing to go to college. The tougher standards begin with the graduating class of 2011, entering its sophomore year this fall.

Michigan has a statewide high school dropout rate of about 15 percent, according to a revised methodology first used by the state for the class of 2007.

An estimated 26 percent of Michigan's population aged 25 and older had at least a bachelor's degree in 2006. That's below the national average of about 28 percent and far below the national leader, Massachusetts, where more than 40 percent of people in that age group had a college degree. Massachusetts had a jobless rate of 5.1 percent in July, better than the national average of 5.7 percent.

The Michigan League for Human Services report calls for expanded education and training opportunities for adults, better unemployment benefits and higher cash assistance and day care subsidies for low-wage workers.